MORIANCUMER

Commentaries on Book of Mormon Geography from a lower Central American perspective. Refer to http://www.mormongeography.com/ for a full treatment. This is not an apologetics site and hostile anti-Mormons are not welcome.

Mar 13, 2015

In addition to the detailed historical
and spiritual information found in the Book of Mormon, there is also
present an interesting sociological study on the diversification of
culture over time. The Lamanites and Nephites both originated from
the same Hebraic source, but over time differentiated into much different
cultures. Much of this differentiation resulted from the Lamanite's
overt rejection of their original Hebrew traditions and values. In
addition, this rejection was colored by their deep animosity toward
their perceived enemies, the Nephites.

In this blog, I will attempt to
reconstruct the Lamanite culture, although the source material,
provided by Nephite authors is obviously biased against the Lamanites
in most instances. The Lamanites are perceived as barbaric, savage,
murderous, and deceptive, with few values or positive traits. Often
they are depicted as ruthless enemies who should be destroyed.
However, there are several examples of positive critiques, such as
Zeniff's defense of the Lamanites, and the sons of Mosiah's
experience with Lamanite converts.

Zeniff (Mos. 9:1) was sent as a spy
among the Lamanites, to learn of their weakness in order to come upon
them and destroy them. However, when he observed their positive
qualities, he changed his mind. So much so that he was willing to
shed the blood of his fellow Nephites in order to defend them and
prevent their destruction.

The sons of Mosiah went as missionaries
among the Lamanites. The general Nephite attitude was expressed in
response to their planned mission. In Alma 26:23-25 we read: “Now
do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the
land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our
brethren, the Lamanites, and they laughed us to scorn? For they said
unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the
knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the
Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as
stiff necked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the
shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest
iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the
beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their
language. And moreover they did say: Let us take up arms against
them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest
they overrun us and destroy us.

But after suffering some initial
trials, the sons of Mosiah were able to convert a great number of the
Lamanites, after which they abandoned their evil traditions. The sons of Mosiah spent 14 years among the Lamanites and came to regard them as the
best of people.

In the following sections, we will
examine what evidence we have of the various aspects of Lamanite
culture. This evidence comes from the Book of Mormon itself, as well
as accounts of the early Spanish conquistadors, and the few records
that we have of the Indian histories that survived the conquest.

Religion and beliefs

Following Laman and Lemuel's rebellion,
they undoubtedly neglected any teaching of the scriptures or the need
for faith in God. Although they were familiar with Jewish religion,
and had a first hand knowledge of God's power and miracles, it is
unlikely that they ever taught these things to their posterity. They
may have even persuaded their descendants to disbelieve in God and
the “traditions of their fathers.” After about 400 years the
Book of Mormon demonstrates that there was little of the original
knowledge of the gospel to be found among their descendants.

Mormon, writing in 90 BC, comments “Now
this was the tradition of Lamoni [and by extension, the rest of the
Lamanites], which he had received from his father, that there was a
Great Spirit. Notwithstanding they believed in a Great Spirit they
supposed that whatsoever they did was right (Alma 18:5).”
Essentially, they believed in an amorphous, undefined, supreme being
who did not give his creations commandments or restrictions, and who
had no expectations for their behavior.

Ammon,
in teaching King Lamoni, elicited the following information regarding
Lamanite beliefs:

Lamoni
did not know the Nephite word for God. He believed that the “Great
Spirit” created all things on the earth, but he did not know
anything about the heaven or its location (Alma 18:24-32). It
appears that the Lamanites had not been exposed to the teachings of
the scriptures (from the Brass Plates) and were not familiar with
their precepts. Many of the Lamanites worshiped idols (Alma 17:15).

Lamoni's father gives us a good example of the prevailing Lamanite attitude toward their perceived enemies, the Nephites. Ammon and Lamoni were traveling to Middoni to rescue Ammon's brethren when they encounter the father who is the king over all the land. He challenges Lamoni asking him "Whither art thou going with this Nephite, who is one of the children of a liar (liar referring to the Lamanites original complaint against Nephi)?" Lamoni's explanation is rejected by his father who counters with "Lamoni, thou art going to deliver these Nephites, who are sons of a liar. Behold, he robbed our fathers; and now his children are also come amongst us that they may, by their cunning and their lyings, deceive us, that they again may rob us of our property (Alam 20:10, 13)." This attitude was apparently widespread and explains a lot of the hostility which existed between the two groups.

It
is not clear whether the early Lamanites had places of worship and
held religious services, but they did allow others among them (such
as the Amalekites) to construct synagogues for religious purposes.
However, in at least one reference we are told that they had
synagogues, temples, and sanctuaries (Alma 23:2).

Much
later (at the time of the conquest), the Lamanites (or the Native
American Indians) seemed to have developed various belief systems
which reflected shadows of the truth, but were mostly superstitious,
pagan beliefs.

Franciscode Bobadilla, one of the early Spanish Catholic priests to work in
Nicaragua (in an account written by Gonzalo Oviedo about 1540),
interviewed some of the Indians of Nicaragua regarding their beliefs
and religion. These Indians were mostly Nicaro (who were possibly
Neo-jaredites from Mexico) and Chorotega (the original indigenous inhabitants of the Nicaragua area). He found that:

The
Indians worshiped two principal gods named Famagostad and Zipaltonal,
the first male and the second female.There
were other minor gods who controlled many of the natural phenomena.
These gods were male and female, had bodies, were immortal, and dwelt
in heaven. They had personal gods which they could call on for
assistance. They
had public images of these gods, and also had small personal images
of them for their homes.

They
had a vague knowledge of the flood, but believed that all men and
animals had been destroyed during this event, and then the gods
recreated mankind and the animals. Those
who died in battle went with the gods, while they who died a normal
death went to a “hell-like” place under the earth. They believe
that their ancestors had become gods. They were uncertain about the
resurrection. Only certain individuals would be resurrected. The
resurrection would not be universal.

They
did not practice fasting. They practiced a rite similar to the
Catholic confession. Their traditions were kept orally and passed
from generation to generation. The essence of life was something
like the spirit and dwelt in the heart. When this left the body it
resulted in death. They had a tradition that the gods anciently
communicated with man, but no longer did so.

There
were special temples which only the priests, chiefs and young boys
could enter. Other common temples were provided for the general
population but only males were admitted. The Indian temples were
large buildings built of wood with thatched roofs. None but the
priests and current chief were allowed entrance.

Bobadilla
was told that the Indians practiced human sacrifice. They believed
that human blood nourished the gods. People were sacrificed to
propitiate the gods. Their blood was sprinkled on the idols in the
temples. Young children were sacrificed to induce the gods to send
rain. The people also offered animals, garden produce, etc. as
sacrifices in the temples. The people made self sacrifices by
cutting the tongue or genitals to produce drops of blood. The
Indians practiced certain formalized burial rites.

There
were twenty one religious festivals held every year with certain rites and
practices associated with each. The Indians had a well established
rite corresponding to the confession of the Catholic Church. These
confessions were heard by senior, single men chosen by the “council”
for this purpose. Everyone above the age of puberty was expected to
confess.

Another
Spaniard (Andres de Cerezeda) describes the Indian temples. He informs us that
they were built of timber, and thatched; but large, with many low,
dark, inner chapels. These, it seems, were surrounded by large
courts, beyond which none except the priests and the cazique [were
allowed] ... Besides these, there were what the Indians called
Tezarit oratorios, or "high places," which stood before or
around the temples, and which [are] described as being conical or
pyramidal in shape, ascended by steps. Upon these high places the human victims
were sacrificed.

Lamanite Agriculture

We read that “the
more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in
tents (Alma 22:28).” We can infer from this that there was a “more
ambitious” group of Lamanites as well. I would suggest that this
group would have been in the majority. These are the ones who would
have populated the towns and villages. Hunters and gatherers (to use
a term of the anthropologists), which the more idle part of the
Lamanites surely would have been, cannot maintain a settled
lifestyle, and have to keep moving and wandering in order to find
enough food to subsist. Such groups would have difficulty
establishing any type of government or organized community, and would
have had difficulty mobilizing for war, as the Lamanites did on many
occasions. So it seems obvious that the Lamanites must have had an
agricultural base to maintain their settled (although primitive in
comparison with the Nephites) lifestyle, however, there are few
references to such practices.

We
are told that the
Lamanites kept flocks (see Alma ch. 17). We aren't told what kind of
animals they were, but they were herded in groups, were driven to the
watering hole, and could be scattered and then rounded up. Crops
aren't mentioned in the text, but provisions were sent to the
Lamanite armies which were undoubtedly produced by Lamanite agriculture. One example, “they
(the Lamanites) were continually bringing new forces into that city
(Morianton), and also new supplies of provisions (Alma 55:34).”

Although
there are not many references to Lamanite agriculture in the Book of
Mormon, this is not the case with the later Lamanites at the time of
the Spanish conquest. Throughout
the Americas the Europeans discovered substantial crops, fields and
harvests. In fact their survival, in many cases, depended on the
bounteous Indian stores.

Christopher
Columbus, and his crew members, observed many of the Indian communities
practicing an efficient and productive form of agriculture. On his
fourth voyage of exploration, in what is now Panama, his son
Ferdinand wrote of the harbor that they called Portobelo; “he
(Columbus) gave it that name because it is very large, beautiful,
thickly populated, and surrounded by cultivated country … The
country about the harbor is well tilled and full of houses only a
stone's throw or crossbow shot apart, all as pretty as a picture, the
fairest
thing one ever saw (Ferdinand p. 243-4)” Another place nearby was named Puerto de Bastimentos
“because
all the land about and the islets were full of maize fields (p. 244).”

On another expedition into the interior of Panama Ferdinand reports;
“Next day the Adelantado (an officer, Columbus' brother Bartolomeo) sent most
of his men overland back to the ships while he continued with thirty
men to a village called Cobrava, where were cornfields stretching
over an extent of six leagues (about 15 miles), and then he proceeded
to Cateba. In both places they met a friendly reception and were
given much food (p. 253).”

Gil Gonzalez, who in 1522 was the first Spanish conquistador to explored
Costa Rica and Nicaragua, traveled approximately 580 miles along the
Pacific coast (from Panama to Nicaragua). In this journey he encountered 50 major Indian towns
with their chiefs and inhabitants. Many souls were baptized in each
location indicating major populations, and these populations would have
required an established agriculture to maintain themselves.

Recent
archaeological work at the Salvadoran site of Joya de Ceren has given
us a clear view of native agricultural practices of about 500 AD.
This village was buried by a thick layer of volcanic ash in about 490 AD following a
major eruption of a nearby volcano. The village was
covered quickly and the evidence of everyday living, and farming
practices were well preserved. Gardens, near the homes, and farming areas
farther away, have been uncovered during the excavations. The main crops were corn and manioc,
and were productive enough to support a population of 200-400 people
per square kilometer. Evidence indicates that the manioc crops of this village were more robust that our modern varieties. Other crops, such as beans and squash, were
also grown.

From
the above information, I think we can conclude that although the
Lamanites were not as advanced agriculturally as the Nephites, they
certainly had much of the same knowledge, and were able to produce
and store a surplus, as well as support a substantial population. In
fact, on many occasions during the Colonial Period, the Spaniards
relied heavily on the abundant Indian stores, begging for them,
buying them, or stealing them if necessary.